[JohanSWE]

I love this thing, that i found some week ago, its amazing! The idea is as genius as it is simple, and being a pro Opensource share everything kinda guy i just have to spread this.
Though i havent checked if the ISP's here in Hk would allow connection shareing, pretty sure pccv (greedy %$#&*^ ) doesnt since they offer the multiuser plan.
Anyways anyone interested in being part of the WIFI revolution surf your gear to
http://en.fon.com/
and signup.

Enjoy

[KnowItAll]

Ummm.. open my router up?

Ummm.. I don't think so.

[JohanSWE]

you wouldent open it.

ow does the FON password system work?
All FON Hotspots have two password systems. The first one works only at the point of access and serves to administer the router. Remember that you must change your password in the installation process if you want to have absolute control over your router. The second system is based on an individual password that you have as a registered user and permits you to any connect FON Hotspot.

[KnowItAll]

Yeah .. still .. no can do. Just don't trust anyone who is going to muck with router firmware ...

Specially someone who stuffs their website with keywords like "skype, cisco, movement, hardware, linux, software, weblog, boards, community, linus, aliens"

[vmlinuz]

Firstly, I've seen some strange comments about the recent buzz around Fon - there are suggestions that many of the high-profile people being very positive about it do, in fact, have connections with the company. Obviously, it goes both ways - people are connected with the company because they're positive about it, and are positive because they have an active connection with it...

However, I don't really see the point. Firstly, as you correctly point out, most home broadband connections forbid the public sharing (reselling?) of the service - in many cases they forbid the use of the service by more than once computer, but that's clearly nonsense and can be ignored. Secondly, I've been running open wireless for years, without having to sign up with a company to provide it, using a variety of hardware and software, and simply not closing my connection - what I've tended to do is leave it open, but without open dhcp, so that anyone technical enough to discover my IP range (192.168.1.x at the moment) is welcome to hop onto my network. Thirdly, I think public wifi of this sort is rather over-rated anyway, except in certain circumstances - the range of 802.11abg is low enough, particularly in urban areas, that you need to know you're in a footprint, rather than fishing around for a signal. There are enough people out there already providing open access that, again, there seems very little point joining a company to 'share' it.

Just seems like a new bubble company to me...

[PDLM]

Er, right. In a past life I had the misfortune to try to do business with some of the people behind this initiative (when they were at Jazztel). They are classic "dotcom bubble shysters". I wouldn't trust them further than I could throw them.

[JohanSWE]

Well skype did invest US$22 milion into fon, i think it's great, but I hear what your saying, I belive it's a great idea and i hope more people will feel the same way. Fon has my support

[PDLM]

That's a recommendation?

Skype is the ultimate triumph of dotcom hype over common sense. Over US$2.5bn (80 times revenue isf I remember correctly) for a piece of software that I could gather ten friends together and write in a month? Minimal revenues? No competitive advantage, no barriers to market entry, no customer loyalty, no power over suppliers, ... This is not the basis of a sustainable business.

It is truly sad that the people who invested in the same shysters first time round are giving them a second go. Why can't people learn from experience?

if this is truly a "common good" sharing experience where is US$22M going? I don't know, but past experience would lead to one conclusion - straight into flashy offices for the shysters at the top of this, lots of expensive dinners, first class flights and other things to persuade gullible investors that this isn't all smoke and mirrors.

And then guess what? One day the whole thing will quietly wind up and everybody will be left wondering where their money went.

[PhilE]

Isn't there also a risk that any 'mis-use' by others of your connection will be attributed back to you? I.e. the source IP will be shown as that of the public side of your router so people in the next flat seeding the latest Holywood releases could get you into trouble (not to mention nicking your uplink bandwidth).